Quad L22 or Castle Cornway to replace B&W N805

As a Quad owner (21L) I just want to point out something very quickly. Is it your speaker or is it other components in your signal chain that is contributing to the brightness which seems as it may be resulting in fatigue?

I've had to change cabling and components for my Quads because they are simply not forgiving of poor quality or etched sounding components. I will never - pair anything by Black Rhodium with Quad speakers - a fellow Quad owner asked for my advice regarding cables and I said pretty much anything but BR - he went out and bought Black Rhodium and then ended up getting rid of them within a month because he had the same problem I had we bouth had a laugh over that.

I had to change my source (lowly Pioneer DV353) because it was contributing to listener fatigue as well. If at all possible try to introduce some different components into your system to see if the problem is your B&Ws or something else in the chain. If its something else in the chain you will NOT be happy by shifting to either the Quads or the Castles (which I know only by reputation but are reputed to be similarily ruthless regarding upstream components.)

That being said, I briefly heard the 805 Signatures recently and was completely unimpressed and thought that my Quad 21Ls were atleast equal if not better in most respects than them,(Soundstage / detail / height of image / PRAT etc) as always your mileage may vary.

Nathan Klassen

Hi there. I am planning to have the following AV system:

DVD & SACD Player - Denon 2913
AV Amp - Yamaha RX-V1500
Speaker - Quad L22

Can anyone here please advise?
Cheers.

You could pickup a used processor and stick with a proper two channel amp and be much happier I think. I have not been happy with most receiver's performance but perhaps that is a personal issue.

I think that the 21L with a Sub would be much better than the 22L as the 22L's crossover/integration with the midrange woofer seems to leave much to be desired. The 11/12/21L are all crossed over @ 2200hz and the 22L @ 3000hz. For Kevlar woofers the key is a low crossover, something the 22L does not do. My 21L goes more than low enough for movie enjoymount but a sub would be 'nice'

The DVD player is likely a decent one.

Stick to Copper cabling & interconnects for Quads. With Silver it becomes 'tizzy' and with silver plated copper it just doesn't sound quite right. Black Rhodium's nickel plated copper also doesn't fit the bill so maybe just avoid all non-copper stuff.

Feel free to e-mail me if you'd like

I've had the chance to do an A-B comparison, in my home, of the B&W Signature 805 and the Quad 22L. The Quad 22L is a very nice speaker, well made, beautiful finish. It exhibited nice balance and good low-end power.

However, the difference in detail, smoothness and articulation between the 22L and the 805Sig was HUGE. The best way I can describe the difference is to say that if the 805S sounded glassy-smooth, the Quad 22L was like sandpaper. What I mean is, vocals on the 22L were grainy, and a little more harsh, while the 805 Signature was so smooth and pretty-sounding.

It's easy to look at the 805 Signature and think, "what am I getting for $3500?" But listen to them next to the $1700 Quad 22L, and you'll get an answer very quickly. By themselves, the Quads sounded good, but once you hear the 805 Signature the Quads sound unacceptably grainy. And, by the way, if placed properly the 805S has as much low-end grunt as the Quads - it's amazing how much range that little bookshelf has.

I realize you asked about the 805, and not the 805 Signature, but I've owned the 805 as well and I'm not sure you'd be happy going to the Quad 22L from the 805. The 805 enjoys much of that upper-end sweetness that the 805 Signature has, so if you enjoy that part of being an 805 owner, you'll miss that with the Quad. The only thing the 22L will give you, above the 805, is low-end power.

I agree with Vaystream, in that you should check your cabling and especially your speaker positioning before giving up on the 805. In my experience, they are VERY VERY sensitive to positioning, and can go from bright to beautiful and bassy with proper toe-in and wall proximity.

Hope that helps a little,
BCGator

Just a quick note to Bcgator the 22L is the worst of the Quad line. If you look where its crossed over compared to the rest of the line it will have some problems the rest of the line simply does not have.

A fellow inmate on the Audio Asylum who owns the 22Ls and the 21Ls agrees with me that the 21ls are superior in every way 'except' bass response, although the 21s are quite good there as well.

If you can BC try the 12L or the 21L vs the 805. If you do please e-mail me with your thoughts,

Nathan Klassen

Francois

What about changing the Nautilus 805 to the new 805s ?? New 805s has the same features as the 805 Signature except for the nice finish and retails for $1000 less ( I think ).Perhaps less bright as they employ the Signature tweeter.

Do you want to change from a Two-way to a Three-way ?I am biased towards Two-ways.

Another option is to look at the Merlin range - TSM-MM/MX or VSM-MM/MX Again biased ,since I own the VSM-MM speakers .....can make a strong recommendation on them.

Good Luck
Chris

Bcgator,

I know you are comparing the 22L to the B&W Signature 805, when you made those comments about the 22L sounding like "sandpaper"...."grainy".

But for the life of me I have no idea what you're talking about.

The 22L is so very smooth.

Anyone who takes the time to match appropriate components upstream and work on placement with the 22L; will be rewarded with silky, smooth highs and midrange......and of course a nice tight lower end.

I don't know what the circumstances involved in your comparison, nor do I know of the room acoustics. But I have to believe what you heard was not the 22L at it's best.

I own the 22L, and myself and some friends have done quite a bit of comparing, and to a man ( and women) they all love the 22L. No harshness, no grain, certainly no sandpaper....when set up properly.

The 22L can be very revealing and unforgiving of bad recordings and bright components.

I feel there's a huge misconception regarding the 22L and it seems to be rooted in some review, where the reviewer claimed the 22L was the worst of the L-Series line.

I've heard or owned all the L-Series speakers in the last 2 years, and I disagree. So do a lot of other people who have taken the time to listen to them all.

The 22L is also VERY VERY sensitive to positioning. If you take that into consideration for the B&W Signature 805, in fairness, you should have taken that into consideration with the 22L.

I don't care what people say about the difference in the crossover points of the 22L, compared to the rest of the line. The bottome line, when they are set up and matched correctly, they sound better than any of the other L-Series models.

Simply looking at crossover points, is not the same as listening and living with them; and I have done that with all of the L-Series models. The 22L stood head and shoulders above the rest.

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=speakers&n=191927 Here is a thread with an individual who was weighing the 21L vs the 22L, my comments are in the thread, but of special note is "duckman's" as he owns both the 21L and the 22L and has for some time.

No doubt about room setup on the 22 as that is the same thing I have encountered on the 21. I have not spent enough time with the 22 and can simply relay discussion and points made by others, and I have been careful to clarify them as such. I'd be curious to hear the 22Ls in my home system vs the 21s and I suspect the debate won't be resolved until I do that :) That being said, I'm very happy with my 21s.

You know, everyone has their own personal preferences and tastes. People have their own opinions, and that's the way it should be.

But when people make comments like "the 22L are the worst of the L-Series" , that's talking in absolutes. And I think that's wrong and misleading.

I could have kept the 21L or the 12 L, no problem. But like many of the friends who have been here and listened, I felt the 22L offered more of what I wanted from a speaker and was an all around better sounding speaker.

I think you have to take some time and set the 22L up properly and mate them properly, before really hearing what they can do. And living with them every day, is a very pleasant and telling experience.

Take a listen to them, but take the time to do it right.

I've read DUCKMAN's posts and have even taken part in some of the discussions. I respect his opinion, but that doesn't make the 22L the worst in the series.

Also, the B & W model mentioned in the comparison is double the price of the 22L. That's not exactly comparing apples to apples.

I've followed several of these threads with great interest. Vaystream, have you heard the 22L? I seem to recall an older post on AA where you stated you hadn't.